A Hard Lesson Learned
by Lord Jaric
Summary: The Vytal Festival Tournament has finally arrived and Team RWBY has made it far. But Ruby now faces an opponent that she never thought she would have to fight. [One-Shot]


**A/N:** After going through RWBY for the first time I came up with this little plot. I don't know how the RWBY team plans to handle the tournament when it comes, rather it will be team based or individual. So I did a little bit of both plot wise. The match in this one-shot however is a one-on-one.

I'm always open to constructive criticism and this being my first RWBY fanfic I'm sure I got somethings wrong.

Enjoy

 ** _I don't own the cover image_**

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 **A Hard Lesson Learned**

The red hooded girl was taking in deep breaths as the announcer called out her opponent while she waited to be called on. The day they had waited for had finally come. The Festival Tournament had begun and Team RWBY had beaten many other teams along the way to reach this point. She and her team made it so far only for it to come to this. To everyone's surprise the handful of teams that were left had been broken up into individuals and their opponents randomly assigned. She was in the first match of the first round and her opponent was someone she never thought she would have to fight.

"And now, her opponent." Bartholomew Oobleck enthusiastic voice echoed down the hallway she was standing in just outside the arena. "She is the youngest student of Beacon Academy. She is the leader of Team RWBY. You have seen her wielded her Crescent Rose with speed and tenacity. Ladies and Gentlemen please give it up for, Ruby Rose!" The thunderous applause did little to ease her nerves.

Ruby slowly walked out into the arena and the clapping became even louder and grew into yells of excitement. Here silver eyes drifted around the arena. There were various obstacles for the competitors to use in any way they saw fit. From small walls to stone blocks to tall pillars. She saw Glynda Goodwitch of to the side as she would be refereeing the match. She saw Ozpin, James Ironwood and a number of other representatives in the VIP box. Her eyes washed over the various students of defeated teams and waiting participants in the stands, many of which seemed to be waiting eagerly for the match to begin. She didn't miss the concern looks on Weiss and Blake who were almost leaning over the edge of the arena. But everything went mute as she looked at her blonde haired opponent across the arena.

 _How can she be so calm?_ Ruby wondered to herself when she saw the small but sincere smile on Yang's face. The blonde stood with such confidence. She wasn't stiff at all. Her violet eyes didn't show the slightest hint of concern. The red hooded girl was still finding it hard to believe that her first individual opponent of the tournament was her own sister.

"Alright you two," Glynda's sudden voice almost made her jump, bringing her back to the impending match, "you know the rules. The two are you will fight until one of you concedes, is incapacitated or I deem that you are unable to continue the fight. Are you ready to begin?" Yang gave a firm nod while Ruby gave a small one. "Then get set." Clynda raised her whip into the air. "And be-"

"Ruby," Yang interrupted before the glass cladded woman could start the match. "Don't you hold back on me. I want you to do your best to beat me." Ruby was at a lost at what to say to her sister's statement.

"May I start the match now?" An irritated Clynda asked. Yang gave her an apologetic smile. "Begin!"

Before Ruby could even blink Yang was already halfway across the arena floor with Ember Celica at the ready. By the time she got Crescent Rose out she could only block one of her sister's incoming gauntlets. When it connected with her shaft a loud bang went off and Ruby felt her feet lift off the ground as she went flying back into the arena wall behind her. The brief pain caused her to let out a gasp.

"You've got to be faster." Yang's voice quickly brought back her attention to the match in time to see her sister's fist coming for her. Using her speed, Ruby quickly left the spot she was at to an obstacle wall that hid her from the blonde's view in time to hear Yang's fist collide with the arena wall. After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Ruby peaked around the corner to see her sister walking around looking for her. She waited for the right moment to strike.

 _Now!_ She saw her opening once Yang's back was to her. The raven-red haired girl ran out from the wall and sped towards the blonde with her scythe raised. But once she got within range Yang spun around raising her gauntlets blocking her strike. Ruby could only gape at how her sister withstood her attack.

"A long range fighter shouldn't fight a close range fighter head on." Before Ruby could jump away Yang delivered a hard kick to her stomach. The silver eyed girl grunted in pain as she was pushed back. Before she could speed away her sister's fist came at her only giving her time to move to the side. She avoided the attack by inches. A small smile crossed Ruby's face as she had an opening that, with Yang's current momentum, the blonde wouldn't be able to avoid her attack.

A loud bang to Ruby's side however scrubbed that plan as she winced from the ringing in her ears. Once she opened her eyes she saw Yang finishing the spin to a roundhouse kick that collided with her head sending the young girl sprawling to the ground. Ruby quickly regained her footing and sped off behind another wall. Her heart was pounding in her chest form the last engagement. Her sister was right; taking her head on was mistake. She switched her weapon to its gun mode and was getting ready to start taking shots off from behind the wall when Yang's Ember Celica blew through the barrier making Ruby jump. The gauntlet went off destroying the wall.

"Don't assume that when you hide that you enemy doesn't know where you are."

Ruby quickly sped away and got behind one of the stone blocks on the other side of the arena and took aim and started to fire off Crescent Rose. Yang reaction was quick and she jumped behind another stone block getting out of the hooded girl's sight. The silver eyed girl kept her sights on the block and waited. She took a deep breath to steady herself. A brief bit of movement from the stone's side caught her attention. She quickly took aim and fired. The bit of yellow she saw quickly retreated behind the stone. Another flash of movement from the other side of the stone and she took aim and fire.

"That's it, sis!" Yang called out. "Keep the initiative." That praise brought a smile to the younger sister's face. Suddenly the stone block exploded into dust and debris blocking her view of her blonde sister. Ruby pulled her head away from her sights to get a wider view of the area to look for her sister. Yang came charging out of the cloud of dust towards the younger girl. Ruby quickly lined up her sights and fired off a round, which her sister quickly dodged. Ruby fired off another round but Yang dodged that one as well while closing the distance between them. She fired off several more rounds but her sister was just too quick.

 _Too close!_ Ruby realized as her sister approached the dual colored haired girl. She quickly switched Crescent Rose back into a scythe and swung at Yang when she got within range. The blonde quickly jumped back out of the blade's reach. Ruby took the opportunity to speed run to the other side of the arena. _I need to figure something out. I haven't even landed one hit on her yet._

Yang was still standing on the other side waiting for the younger girl to make a move. Ruby looked around to see if there was anything she could use that would help her. Her eyes landed on a pillar between her and her sister. And then something just clicked in her head. A move that would throw her sister off. She griped the shaft tightly with both hands and positioned the blade behind her. With a quick thrust she began running head on towards the blonde. Yang responded in kind and began running towards her. Ruby made sure to keep the pillar to her left as the blonde ran on a collision course with the red hooded girl.

The two sisters were only yards away from each other when Ruby swung Crescent Rose. Yang's eyes widened at what she could have only assumed was a too early of a swing, just what Ruby wanted her to think when her blade hit the right side of the pillar. Just as it hit she jump to the left and fired off the gun at the top scythe. Her body started to swing around the pillar and she fired off several more rounds to add to her momentum. When Ruby came full circle Yang only had time to turn her head to see her younger sister's feet hit her face sending her into the air towards the arena wall. It took one more circle and dragging her feet into the ground for Ruby to come to a stop. And for the first time since the match started she heard the yells of excitement and applauses. She had been so focused on her sister that she had completely forgotten that they had an audience.

"Well done, sis." Yang voice brought back the younger sibling attention as she watched her get back up from where she had fallen. "That was very impressive." The blonde body had a slight glow to it.

 _Her Semblance!_ Ruby realized to her dismay.

"Now it's my turn." Yang slammed her fist into the ground causing a chunk of the floor to be dislodged and lift into the air blocking her from the hooded girl's view. Ruby heard Ember Celica go off before the chunk of floor came hurdling towards her. She only had time to jump to the side to dodge the attack. But her sister had anticipated the move and had followed the piece of earth to get close to the younger girl; allowing the blonde to press her attack.

Yang's punches came so fast that Ruby barely had time to block with the shaft of her weapon. Each attack seemed to have more power than the previous one. The younger sister felt herself being pushed back with the force of each collision. Once again she found herself backed up against the arena wall with almost no room to maneuver. She was just able to move her head away as Yang's fist slammed into the wall. Ruby used to moment to escape and recuperate behind an obstacle wall.

"You can't keep running and hiding." Her sister called out to her. "You need to press your attacks and stay a step ahead of the enemy."

 _I know that._ Ruby chastised herself as she tried to catch her breath. But she had been unable to gain an advantage in the fight. The hooded girl had only been able to land one hit while her sister had been pushing her from one side of the arena to the other. She peaked out around the corner to see Yang walking around the other side of the arena. Once again there was a pillar between them. Ruby knew trying the same move twice wouldn't work but perhaps she could still use the pillar to her advantage. She ransacked her mind for some kind of plan. Then it came to her, it was a gutsy and audacious plan but it could work and it could win her the match.

She put Crescent Rose away and mentally began to countdown. When she reached zero she ran out from her hiding spot and towards her sister with no subtlety at all. Yang saw her and wasted no time in running towards her younger sister. As the distance between them shrunk Ruby reached up the pins of her hood. Just as Yang was about to punch her she activated her Semblance.

To say the look of surprise on her sister's face, when she hit nothing but the red hooded cape, amused Ruby was an understatement. She wanted to burst in a fit of giggles as she watched Yang look around the arena for her. It never occurred to her older sister to look up on the pillar the formerly hooded girl stood on. Now was her chance while Yang was completely off kilter for Ruby to strike.

She jumped into the air as high as she could as she brought Crescent Rose out into it scythe mode and raised it as high as she could. With the pull of the trigger the gun at the top of the scythe went off propelling the young girl towards the ground. By the time Yang looked up it was too late for the older girl to make any move but to prepare herself for the attack. As Ruby began to swing she fired of the gun one more time adding more momentum to her attack. When Crescent Rose collided with Ember Celica the resulting force caused the ground around them to crack open kicking up debris obscuring them both. As the dust settled she saw her older sister on one knee with one of her gauntlets holding back Crescent Rose.

"Well done, sis." Yang's voice came so sincerely that it made Ruby relaxed slightly. Her head was down but the younger girl could see the small trickle of blood that fell down the side of her older sister's face which concerned her. "That was a bold but effective move. But," Yang lifted up her head showing her red eyes and her hair began to glow, "you left yourself open."

Time seemed to slow down for Ruby when she felt the blow to her stomach giving her time to look down to see Yang's other fist before a loud bang sent time forward along with her flying towards the arena wall. When she hit the wall the pain was enough to make her drop Crescent Rose. She slid down to the floor when her legs gave out on her. By the time her mind caught back up to her and she began to reach for her weapon, Yang was in front of her with Ember Celica in her face.

"It's over, Ruby." Yang stated quietly. The younger sister could do nothing but bow her head in defeat.

"The winner of the match is, Yang Xiao Long!" Glynda declared loudly. A thunderous applause followed but Ruby tuned it out feeling like she failed completely in the match. The young girl had come so far only to be pushed back down. She was about to cry when she felt a pair of warm arms wrap around her.

"Hey, it's okay." Her sister's soft soothing voice said. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. Your performance in the tournament has been great. Dad would be so proud of you." Ruby couldn't help but return the hug in gratitude for her sister's kindness. Yang helped her back up to her feet providing her some support. The clapping which she knew had stopped started back up. Ruby look around the stands to see everyone standing from the front row to the VIP box. Weiss and Blake in particular seemed to be clapping the loudest.

"I think this one is for you." Yang said with a smile. Ruby smiled back as she waved her hand and the applause grew louder.

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 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this little match and bonding between Ruby and Yang.


End file.
